Sinister
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- Feb 18, 2013
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Plans to construct the much awaited Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) are picking up pace. This is after the Kenyan government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan for its implementation. The US $391m project is expected to unlock more than 60,000 jobs in Mombasa, the coastal city of Kenya
However this does not mean that the project starts immediately as Kenya is still expected to sign a final print of the deal with Japan come this December after which the construction shall be set to kick off.
Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director, Mr. Daniel Manduku, confirmed that a MoU was signed and he noted that the key shareholders, who in this case are the county and national governments, are working around the clock to make sure that they have a contractor on site before June next year.
Funding for the project
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Funds to finance the project will be granted to the government of Kenya by her Japan counterpart. About 85.92% of the entire amount will be a loan, while the rest will be a grant.
Additionally, the MoU which was signed last month during the Tokyo International Convention on Africa Development (Ticad) in Japan, states that the loan and the grant are expected to end within a period of three years, after the completion of the project.
An overview of the project
The Dongo Kundu SEZ industrial and commercial hub project is a part of a master plan for the development of the Mombasa SEZ that was conceived four years ago.
It is expected to be executed in phases on a 1,326 hectares piece of land with the first phase projected to be ready by June 2022.
